News

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 21: U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) (C), (D-MA), a member of the ‘Super Committee’, or Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, pauses as he is interviewed by the media November 21, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction has issued a statement saying ‘it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.’ (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Dow dropping 249 points tells you what the markets thought of this latest example of DC gridlock.

And as a result, according to Congressman Ed Markey, the failure to reach a deal will trigger potentially “devastating” cuts in Massachusetts.

Or, maybe not.

Watch Keller @ Large:

“We do not believe that the wealthiest people in America should get another tax cut at the expense of people on fixed incomes, elderly, people on medicaid and others having to ante up more,” said Rep. Markey.

Republicans claim they were prepared to have the rich pay more, but Democrats weren’t serious about curbing deficits and debt.

Whoever you believe, their failure is supposed to now trigger automatic cuts.

But Markey, who wrote a report claiming the automatic cuts would gut federal funds we rely on for our crucial health care and research sectors, said he now expects a bipartisan retreat from those cuts.

“Jon Kyl and John McCain have already signaled that they’re gonna walk away from the automatic cuts for defense spending. So, if that’s the case, then the same thing will probably happen with regard to the cuts that will impact on social programs,” said Markey.

Congress has plenty of time to scuttle those cuts, which were part of the debt-ceiling deal last summer, since they were conveniently timed to occur after next year’s election.